Saffron: Aromatic spice delivers rich color to sophisticated palates the world over

Nation's Restaurant News, June 26, 2000 by Andy Battaglia

Saffron has gained a reputation as one of the most expensive spices in the world, but to the chefs who find a mouthful of flavor, a noseful of aroma and an eyeful of color in just a wee pinch, it's priceless.

Saffron is the carefully handpicked stamen of the Crocus sativa flower. Ever enigmatic, the boldly red threads have been used for centuries both within and far beyond the Kitchen. The ancient Greeks exploited saffron's sensual smell as perfume for public bathhouses. Its distinctive color has been used for early forms of makeup and even dye for clothes. Foodwise, saffron is common to Mediterranean dishes like Spanish paella, French bouillabaisse and Milanese risotto as well as some in Middle Eastern cuisine.

However, just because saffron is as old as civilization doesn't mean anyone has found a suitable way to describe its flavor yet. Used in a variety of culinary. preparations -- as a flavor component, salt substitute, coloring agent -- saffron can announce its presence grandly even if its language can be hard to replicate.

"The closest thing that comes to my mind is bitters," says Marvin James, chef at Markt in New York. "But saffron is so unique that it really escapes me. When it's combined with other elements, it takes on so many different characteristics."

Also at a loss for words, executive chef Derek Davis at Philadelphia's Fish on Main says: "It's a really heady flavor that goes right up through your nose. But it just is what it is. Once you know it, it will always be in your taste memory, like truffles."

Either way, both chefs agree that saffron can make a loud pronouncement with just a subtle touch. At Markt, James uses it to dress up his mussel soup. He mixes mussels with white wine, leeks, onions, carrots, thyme and bay leaf. After cooking, he adds a touch of saffron "to let it permeate the broth."

"It makes for a really classic soup with a nice, bright color," he says. "Mussels and saffron are kind of like peanut butter and jelly."

At Fish on Main, Davis makes a pineapple-jalape[tilde{n}o-saffron salsa with champagne vinegar and sugar to go with his blackened catfish. "When you let it steep over heat, the pineapple turns bright yellow because of the saffron," he says. "The salsa is hot, it's cool, it's sweet -- and it's pretty."

When it comes to adding saffron, Davis says, it's important to remember that "more is not better. If anything, you should err on the light side."

Because overuse can give foods a dramatically bitter flavor, saffron proponents contend that its lofty price is misleading. It may cost almost $30 an ounce, but an ounce acts more like a pound when put into use.

"The vast majority of chefs and consumers think it is unaffordable, that it belongs in this sort of special category," says Ellen Szita, a writer and journalist whose 15 years of saffron research include writing the book "Wild About Saffron: A Contemporary Guide to an Ancient Spice." "My wish is that American chefs would take a lesson from Europe, where saffron is not considered exotic so much as it's considered a good taste." She explains. "People deserve to taste it rather than put it on some sort of pedestal. There's a lot of mythology and mystique that get in the way of people exploring it."

At Tantra restaurant in Miami Beach, Fla., chef Willis Loughhead trades off that same sense of mystique, calling saffron "a key element in our aphrodisiac cuisine.

"We look at spices to pair with foods that make the mind, body and soul feel better," he says. "So I use saffron a lot. It's been a real constant over time, and acts as a stimulant and a digestive. There aren't many spices as powerful."

Urging respect for its power, Loughhead adds, "If you overcook it, it turns far too harsh. Try to keep it out of the beginning process to keep the soul of it."

When used correctly, he says, saffron can add a sensual touch to the most pedestrian foods.

"It lends a lot to vegetarian dishes, which tend to be very basic," he says, citing his couscous as an example. "But when I add saffron, it ups the ante and makes it something more luxurious."

Along similar lines, chef Cary Neff at Sansom Street Oyster House in Philadelphia often uses saffron to give creams and sauces "a richer look and feel." When serving his gazpacho with shrimp, he tops it with a yogurt-honey-saffron mix.

"Everything is red, so instead of using a stark, white topping we try to blend the colors better. Saffron just bleeds into whatever you put it into, so the yogurt takes on a color more in line with the red and pink of the tomato and shrimp."

Chef Mohammad Riasati likes saffron so much that he named his restaurant after it. At Saffron in Englewood, Colo., he uses the spice to spruce up a number of dishes, his personal favorite being chicken saffron. The dish is simple, he says, but the unique flavoring makes it distinctive. He marinates a chicken breast in olive oil, onion, parsley, pepper, plain yogurt and a touch of saffron before cooking it in white wine, garlic, spinach and yet another pinch of saffron.